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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29189835">An Alternate Interpretation</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightLegacy13/pseuds/TwilightLegacy13'>TwilightLegacy13</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Things Unforeseen [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Witchlands Series - Susan Dennard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A draft of chapter 34, Gen, Spoilers for An Unexpected Introduction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:28:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,334</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29189835</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightLegacy13/pseuds/TwilightLegacy13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a draft of chapter 34 from An Unexpected Introduction that I ended up changing drastically for the sake of the plot.  If I hadn't, the fic would've gone in a completely different direction that wouldn't have worked out as well.  Still, the idea still intrigued me so I decided to post it.  This has spoilers for the actual fic, and I'm not continuing this alternate plot line.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Things Unforeseen [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2068053</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>An Alternate Interpretation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The beginning part of this is the same, so the differences start at the line:  “Maybe,” Arida admitted hoarsely.  “But you wouldn’t.”</p><p>Content warnings:  Death, grief, violence, threats, serious injury, discussion of death, mentions of past arson, implied past child neglect.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once again, Safi was on a ship traveling across the Jadansi, but she was no longer a prisoner in chains.  This time she was a passenger along with the rest, and so far she—along with most of the others—had spent the entirety of the journey so far being ordered around by Merik, Kullen, and Stix.  Which was impressive, since it hadn’t been long since they left the Veñaza City harbor.</p><p>Though Safi instinctively disliked following anyone’s orders or directions, even she had to admit that this time it was for the best.  Those three were the most experienced among them when it came to sailing, and it would be insensible for them to not be in charge of making most of the decisions.  If they wanted to get to the sleeping ice as quickly as possible, which they did, they had to choose the wisest route and navigate it safely.</p><p>She was surprised by how ready and willing the Cartorran soldiers were to help.  Though they had pledged their allegiance to the Cahr Awen, she would have thought that it would be harder to convince them to take orders from three Nubrevnans.  Apparently, though, their loyalty extended to those who worked with the Cahr Awen as well, and soon the soldiers began inclining their heads to Merik respectfully and saluting to Kullen and Stix.</p><p><em>So much has changed.</em>  Not too long ago, Safi had been in shackles belowdecks in the <em>Jana</em> and Iseult had been close to death from the cursed arrow wound.  It seemed impossible that so much had happened in so little time.</p><p>“Safi,” Kullen called, diverting her attention away from her thoughts.  “Could you bring up more ropes from the cabin?  We miscalculated before.”</p><p>She nodded and went belowdecks to get the rope.  She still wasn’t exactly sure how Lizl had convinced the Carawen monks to let them use the ship, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know—but it seemed to be sailing just fine, even with their mostly inexperienced crew.</p><p>After she gave the ropes to Kullen, who thanked her with a nod and returned to his work, Safi heard someone else calling her name from nearby.  She turned to face Aeduan, who was leaning against the mast.  “What?”</p><p>“The Hell-Bards want to talk to you,” the Bloodwitch said, gesturing towards Caden, Lev, and Zander across the deck.  “They have been signaling for you.”</p><p>“Oh, I didn’t see.”  Safi turned to look, and sure enough, they were waving for her to come over to where they stood.  “Thank you.  Are you all right?” she added, with a touch of concern.  “You look pale.”</p><p>“I’m fine.  You should go soon—it seems important.”</p><p>So with a shrug, Safi went to go see what the Hell-Bards wanted that was so urgent.  “What is it?  Is something wrong?”</p><p>“Hopefully not,” Caden replied.  “There are two soldiers who want to talk to you about something, and they asked us to bring you down to the cabin to discuss it.”</p><p>“All right,” she said.  It was strange, yes, but maybe they wanted to ask something about where they were going or why they were going there.  Or they just wanted to talk to the Cahr Awen.  “Let’s go.”</p><p>She didn’t recognize these two soldiers, but then again, she hadn’t personally met all of the ones who joined them and she certainly hadn’t taken the time to familiarize herself with all of their faces.  They appeared to be around her age, though maybe a few years older, and the woman’s eyes widened as soon as she saw the Hell-Bards.</p><p>“No,” she began, shaking her head decisively.  “We’d rather talk to only you.”</p><p>Safi was starting to be more than a little suspicious.  There was no harm in having Caden, Lev, and Zander remain while they had whatever conversation these soldiers intended to have.  “What does it matter if they’re with me?”</p><p>“There are some things we have to tell you,” the man put in, “that only you should know.”</p><p>“They stay with me,” Safi said flatly.  Ordinarily she might not have cared, but their insistence made it plain that Safi would rather have people beside her just in case something went wrong.</p><p>The woman bowed her head, seeming greatly disturbed by the fact that the Hell-Bards were going to be here for the conversation.  What in the world was going on?</p><p>“There’s something important you need to know,” the man told Safi.  “Please hear us out and stay calm.  I promise there’s an explanation.”</p><p>“For what?” she asked warily.</p><p>The air shimmered between them with the now-familiar appearance of a glamour being dissolved, and as Safi was beginning to contemplate her stupidity in coming down here practically alone, Leopold and Arida stood undisguised before them in the cabin of the ship.</p><p>Lev cursed, and Safi probably would have too if she’d had the time for it.  <em>Here?</em>  Their entire crew was in danger if these two had returned and infiltrated the ship under the pretense of being soldiers.  Before she could come up with a hasty plan, though, the Hell-Bards acted in such unison that she knew they had done this before.</p><p>Caden shoved Leopold back up against the wall, grabbing his hands and pinning them.  Surprisingly, the prince let him and stayed motionless as he was pushed backwards.  Meanwhile, Zander did the same to Arida, who also didn’t struggle or order him to release her.  Lev withdrew two thin wooden collars from her cloak’s inner pocket—heretic’s collars—and darted forward, quickly fastening them around Arida’s and Leopold’s necks.  They made it look easy, and while Safi was impressed by how quickly they adapted to their surroundings and took control of a situation, she also knew that Leopold and Arida—for whatever reason—had willingly allowed it to happen.  Lev had been fast with the collars, which restricted a witch’s magic, but she hadn’t been fast enough to make it impossible for Arida to use her Wordwitchery first.  They had intentionally <em>let</em> themselves get captured and incapacitated.</p><p>But why?</p><p>“Please let us explain,” Leopold said, seemingly unconcerned by the fact that he was pinned to the wall and unable to use his Glamourwitchery.  “We don’t mean any harm to you.”</p><p>“Then why did you sneak onto our ship to pretend to help us?” Safi demanded, even though—surprisingly—his assertion had rung clear with truth.  “After kidnapping my Threadsister and forcing her to do your bidding?”</p><p>“We didn’t want to do that either,” he replied.  “We had no choice.  If you would just listen to what we have to say, I think you’d understand.”</p><p>Safi was baffled, but she knew better than to let such an opportunity slip by.  Leopold and Arida couldn’t use their magic to harm them now, and if Safi had anything at all right about either of them, that rendered them harmless.  If listening to them now helped her understand what was happening, and how they could get away from Leopold and Arida for good….</p><p>“Fine,” she muttered.  “I’ll listen.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Arida said gratefully.  “If you could tell the Hell-Bards to leave?”</p><p>Zander laughed and made no move to release her.  “No.”</p><p>“Please,” the Wordwitch murmured, sounding almost frightened.  <em>Of what?  </em>“This would be easier with just Safi here.”</p><p>“I don’t care about what’s easier for you,” Caden snapped, glancing over at Arida.  “We have this conversation together or we don’t have it at all.”</p><p>“Fine,” Arida whispered.  “Just please let us go, at least, so we can explain ourselves in a position where you’re less likely to strangle us.”</p><p>Lev made a vague sound of disbelief.  “So you’re admitting that what you say will make us want to strangle you?”</p><p>“Possibly,” Leopold admitted.  “But you deserve to know the truth.”</p><p>“It had better be the truth,” Caden warned, “because Safi will be here listening to all of it.  Don’t try anything,” he added as he cautiously drew back, letting the prince step away from the wall.  He nodded towards Zander, who reluctantly released Arida.</p><p>How Safi wished she were on deck with the others at the moment.  Then she wouldn’t have to listen to this, whatever “this” would be.  As it was, she had no idea how they were going to handle the situation once this conversation was over.  They had already set sail, and there was no way they could be safe if Leopold and Arida stayed on this ship.</p><p>“We’ve done terrible things,” Leopold began, “and you know that.  But everything we tell you right now will be the truth—Safiya, you can vouch for that—and I hope you can understand.”</p><p>“Nothing you can say will justify you kidnapping my Threadsister,” she said flatly.  “But I’d love to hear <em>why</em> you betrayed us.”</p><p>Leopold glanced at Arida, who took a deep breath.  “We’ll explain all of it,” she replied.  “I promise.  But to do that…there are a few other things we need to confess.”</p><p>“Then do it,” Lev muttered.</p><p>Arida’s lips moved soundlessly.  It almost looked like she was trying to say <em>I can’t</em>, but the words didn’t come out.  She didn’t look half as cold and confident as she had every other time Safi had seen her.  Leopold actually leaned over and put his arm around her to comfort her, leaving Safi even more stunned.  If her magic had detected any kind of deception, she would have believed that they were faking it in a heartbeat, but they seemed genuinely apologetic.</p><p>Finally: “My mother was a Cartorran heretic,” Arida began quietly.  Safi had no idea how this was of any importance, but at the very least, it wasn’t a lie.  “She fled to Saldonica with my aunt to escape the Hell-Bards, and met my father there.  He was a Nomatsi from the Korelli tribe, who were in the pirate republic on business.  When I was born, he raised me in his tribe for two years until it was attacked and almost everyone there was killed.  Then my aunt took me back to Praga, to the Angelstatt, and raised me there.”</p><p>The Angelstatt?  Safi glanced at Lev, but she seemed unsurprised by this bit of information.  Then again, she remembered Arida saying something earlier about having met Lev before all of this started.  Maybe she hadn’t been stretching the truth.</p><p>“I…I didn’t want to register, once we realized that I was a Wordwitch,” she admitted.  “It felt cowardly after everything my mother went through to stay free.  It didn’t matter for her, though.  Not long after I was born, she disappeared.  I assume she was caught by the Hell-Bards and brought back to be given the noose, though I didn’t see her back in Praga when we assembled the Hell-Bards together.”  She glanced at Caden.  “Her name was Aris.  Did you know her?”</p><p>Safi watched recognition hit Caden, and he stared impassively back at her.  “You won’t be seeing her,” he said, and Safi remembered that he had killed three heretics who refused to go quietly.  It was all but an admission.</p><p>Arida nodded, as though it didn’t really surprise her.  “When I was eighteen, I met Leopold as he was passing through the northern part of the city, and I started spying for him then.  It was difficult for him to get time away from his guards, so he couldn’t see what it was like for the citizens of Cartorra, so he asked me to gather as much information as possible.  He intended, even then, to take the throne from his uncle because Henrick was ruling so poorly.”</p><p>Safi couldn’t disagree with the last part of her statement, but the rest of her story was baffling.  How was any of this intended to explain why they had kidnapped Iseult and used her magic forcefully?  How could it explain why they were working with the Raider King, who wanted the Cahr Awen dead?</p><p>“One day, as Leopold and I were meeting to discuss one of his plans, Dom fon Grieg arrived to ask him something,” Arida continued, her face tight as though it pained her to recall.  “And he overheard Leopold saying that it was dangerous for a heretic like me to be in Praga.  The dom…he’s very loyal to Henrick, you know, so he was going to turn us in right then and there.”</p><p>“If we were thinking clearly, Arida could have influenced him to let it go using her Wordwitchery,” Leopold put in, “but we were terrified that the emperor would execute us both for treason, so instead we promised him anything in exchange for his silence.  I thought he would refuse because he’s so close to my uncle, but instead he asked for something that would get him even closer.”</p><p>Safi noticed that Caden was watching them speak with a look of horrified fascination on his face, as though he knew where this might be going.  She wished he would tell her, because at the moment she had no idea.</p><p>“I’m so sorry,” Arida whispered to Caden, tears glistening in her bright blue eyes.  She took a deep breath, and then said it all in a rush.  “He wanted me to get closer to Henrick so the emperor would believe me, and Leopold introduced me to the emperor as if he’d just met me and wanted me to join the intelligence forces.  Henrick let me break the rules as long as I got a Witchmark because it was for his benefit, and then Dom fon Grieg made me give you up so he wouldn’t be the one to do it.”</p><p>And Safi’s magic rang <em>true.</em></p><p>Utter silence fell in the cabin.  The only movement was the steady rocking back and forth of the ship, and even that seemed dull now.</p><p>“So it was you,” Lev spat at the same time as Caden murmured, “It was him, then.”</p><p>“His other sons had already been caught and captured,” Arida went on.  “Though he didn’t have a hand in that.  He hoped that if all of his children were put into service of the emperor, that <em>he</em> would be rewarded with a better position.  And, well, he was.”</p><p>“At his son’s expense?” Safi demanded, appalled by Dom fon Grieg’s actions and Arida’s facilitation of them.  She remembered how the dom had treated his son when they were at the Grieg estate, but this was so much worse.  This was despicable.  He had sentenced his own son to a fate worse than death so that he could rise to a higher status with the emperor.</p><p>Arida was blinking rapidly to stop her tears from falling now, but it didn’t make Safi feel any sympathy for her.  “You have to understand, if I didn’t do it, he would have gotten me arrested and possibly executed.  Caden…well, he would have gotten caught eventually regardless.”</p><p>“It was not your decision to make!”  Zander sounded angrier than Safi had ever heard him, and he took a step closer to the Wordwitch.  “You two said it yourselves—you could have used your Wordwitchery to make his father let you go.  You had <em>no</em> right—”</p><p>“Zander,” Caden said quietly, placing his hand on Zander’s arm to stop him from advancing further.  “It was survival.  I can’t forgive the other things she’s done, but…we’ve all made difficult choices to survive.  Sometimes ones that harm other people.  I can’t hate her for <em>that</em>.”</p><p>“I can!” Lev retorted.  “And your father too.  I’m so sorry.”</p><p>He shook his head, looking pained and so exhausted.  “Not now, Lev.”</p><p>She didn’t look happy about it, and neither was Safi, but she nodded reluctantly.  “Tell me there’s nothing else.”</p><p>“There’s—there’s something else,” Arida said tentatively.  “This was around the time that Leopold started meeting with Dom fon Hasstrel, Habim Fashayit, and Mathew fitz Leaux.  Before, we’d been worried because we were breaking the rules, but now we were committing treason.  It made me paranoid.  I would visit my aunt in the Angelstatt often, and I realized that her best friend’s daughter was a heretic.  They did all they could to keep her hidden from the Hell-Bards, and my aunt helped keep her abilities a secret, but I was afraid that if she ended up being caught, the Hell-Bards would execute my aunt as well for hiding her.  Sometimes they even had the daughter’s friend staying at their home, and <em>he</em> was a heretic as well.  It…it was too much.  I couldn’t risk losing my aunt.  She was the only family I had left.”</p><p>Safi glanced to the right of her, where Lev’s hand slowly curled into a fist.</p><p>Arida was crying in earnest now, and she took a deep, shuddering breath before continuing.  “The daughter was a Firewitch and she had a hard time controlling her magic.  It was dangerous for her to stay where she was, so for…for the longest time I wondered if I’d done her a favor.  I knocked over a candle—I really didn’t think the entire building would go up in flames, but the daughter panicked and made fire so much worse.  They made it out alive and safely, but the daughter and her friend were the only ones there so when they were being checked for injuries, they found out that they were heretics.  And…and the Hell-Bards took them then.  I had known that they would, and I didn’t do it to hurt them.  I just wanted them gone so my aunt would be safe.”</p><p>Before she could say another word, Lev had leapt forward and whipped out a dagger, holding its tip under the Wordwitch’s chin.  “Look at me!” she exclaimed, waving her free hand at her own scarred face.  At the golden chain around her neck.  At her green eyes blazing with anger.  “Don’t you <em>dare</em> act like you don’t know our names,” she hissed.  “No more of <em>the daughter and her friend.  </em>Tell me, aloud, who they were.”</p><p>“I’m so sorry,” Arida whispered.  “Lev.  Zander.  It’s completely unforgivable, I—”</p><p>“You’re right.  It is.”  Lev slammed her against the wall and twisted her hand so the blade was now a quick movement away from being lethal.  It surprised Safi:  Lev was loud but she wasn’t normally rough, and now she seemed to pay no attention to how Arida had winced in pain when her shoulders crashed against the wall and just how close the dagger was to her neck.  Then again, she could hardly blame Lev for reacting this way.  “I should kill you for what you’ve done to the three of us.”</p><p>Leopold had only made it one step forward before Zander blocked him from going further.</p><p>“Maybe,” Arida admitted hoarsely.  “But you wouldn’t.”</p><p>“Why not?” Lev demanded.  She tilted her wrist back as if preparing to strike.  “You thought it was a kindness?  You thought I was gonna thank you?”</p><p>Arida seized Lev’s wrist, shoving her back to give herself the space to breathe without worrying about dying.  She ducked away from the Hell-Bard, spinning towards the center of the ship’s cabin where it was easier to escape.  Safi stood frozen in place, feeling like she was watching the hate and tears and violence from afar as Lev tackled the Wordwitch.</p><p>She glanced over at Caden and Zander.  The latter was forcibly restraining Leopold in spite of his struggles to break free, and the former was staring at his friend with a look of grim determination.  With that one look, Safi saw the truth without needing to hear it.  They knew what was about to happen, and weren’t going to do it themselves, but they weren’t going to stop her.</p><p>“Lucky for you,” Lev murmured, grabbing Arida’s hair and yanking her head back, “I always repay a <em>favor</em>.”</p><p>And she stabbed Arida in the throat.</p><p>Zander clapped his hand over Leopold’s mouth to stifle the horrified sounds he was making—which were less of words or sobs and more of shocked whimpers as the blood cascaded down Arida’s neck and she went still.  The prince had stopped fighting against Zander’s grip and now just leaned into his arms, his eyes fixed on her motionless, lifeless form.</p><p>Safi still felt oddly distanced from reality as she watched Lev press a scarf to the wound, preventing the blood from making even more of a mess.  Later, she knew the events would catch up to her and she would feel sick from what she had seen, and she would feel guilty for not being more upset about what precisely had happened.  Now, though?  She just felt empty and observant.</p><p>So she kept observing, in silence, as Leopold quieted down and reached up to tap the back of Zander’s hand.  The Hell-Bard begrudgingly took it away from his mouth, but didn’t let go of him.</p><p>To an ordinary audience, Leopold would have seemed exceedingly calm—his face was expressionless and he neither shouted nor cried.  Safi saw that mask of calmness and knew, from her witchery and from the years they had been friends with each other, that it was built out of nothing but lies.</p><p>She didn’t have Iseult’s ability to see Threads, but even she could tell that he was breaking.</p><p>“Let me go to her,” Leopold said softly, his voice barely audible.  “Please.”</p><p>“No,” Zander muttered, though he seemed to be on the verge of caving already.  “If you’re loud, the others will come down here to see what’s going on.”</p><p>Some part of Safi wanted them to, but she also had no idea how this would be explained.  For now, discretion was best.</p><p>“I need to close her eyes,” he whispered.  “She never knew what to believe, and—please.”</p><p>Whatever the hell-flames that was supposed to mean was beyond Safi, but Zander let Leopold go to kneel at Arida’s side and rest her eyelids shut.  “Just in case,” the prince murmured.  His hand still cradled her pale face, and he remained there in silence until Caden crossed the cabin and placed his hands on his shoulders.</p><p>“Get up.  This isn’t over.”</p><p>“I know.”  He didn’t move.</p><p>Caden sighed sharply.  “I’m unarmed, I’m not going to hurt you, and we need to finish this conversation so we can know where to go from here.”</p><p>Leopold’s hand went to Arida’s waist and then, in a blur, he was on his feet with a knife pressed against Caden’s throat.  His other arm locked around <em>Caden’s</em> waist, keeping him in place as his gaze flicked between the other three, lingering the longest on Lev.</p><p>Who had yet to put away her own dagger, still bright and red.  She made as if to step forward defensively, which was when Leopold started laughing.</p><p>Safi recognized that laughter, though not from the prince.  It was the kind of laughter that didn’t accompany a smile and didn’t indicate anything close to happiness.  It was the kind of laughter a person gave when they were one step away from crying and another from falling apart.</p><p>“Try it,” he dared Lev, his eyes gleaming and yet somehow simultaneously empty.  “You might be able to kill me with that same damned blade.  You really might.  But I’m a lot closer, and I do not think you want to know what it feels like.”</p><p>“You wouldn’t,” Lev said, not looking away from Caden.  Safi had been as good as holding her breath from the moment this started, but even she couldn’t miss the choice of words.</p><p>Leopold just kept laughing like it was his only lifeline, until for the first time, Safi was genuinely scared of her childhood friend.  “I wouldn’t?  I orchestrated a plan to have my uncle assassinated so I could take his position.  We…I tricked and betrayed and hurt so many people to save myself.  Only my Threadsister ever thought I was better than that, and her blood is on your knife.  So tell me, Lev, what I <em>wouldn’t</em> do right now.”</p><p>Fear twisted through Safi’s gut along with all of her other warring emotions.  If he kept acting like this, to hell with discretion—she was going to scream and bring her other friends down here.  One dead body in the ship’s cabin was enough without an extremely unstable prince who was threatening to murder an innocent man just, from what Safi could tell, to prove a point to someone else.</p><p>On the other hand, though, she had never known that Arida was Leopold’s Threadsister.  She’d thought they were merely friends, but Safi knew what the bond of a Threadsister was like.  She would never do Iseult the insult of comparing her to Arida, but Safi couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have that connection severed, much less to have to watch.</p><p>He didn’t deserve any, but she still felt a pang of sympathy for Leopold.  It quickly evaporated in his shuddering laughter that was honestly starting to sound more like crying and the knife he still held to Caden’s throat.</p><p>Safi marched up to Leopold, meeting his gaze unflinchingly.  “Put the blade down,” she ordered.  “Lev, I’m going to speak for you, because I don’t think you two should talk to each other.”</p><p>Lev bit her lip hard, but didn’t argue.  She went to stand beside Zander.</p><p>“Leopold,” Safi continued firmly.  “You asked her what you wouldn’t do.  I can’t answer that, but I can say what you <em>won’t</em> do.  You won’t try to kill someone who never hurt you, and who never hurt Arida—and I don’t pity her.  I just know that you’re right, Lev does not want to know what it feels like, and I know that you won’t inflict it because you do.”</p><p>He lowered the knife, then dropped it on the floor.</p><p>“Now come on,” Safi said.  “We’re all going up to the deck.  I don’t care how much more you have to confess; you’re doing it where everyone else can hear and see you.”</p><p>And where Iseult would be there.  She needed her Threadsister.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you liked it!  It's really strange looking back on it because it's just so different from the direction I ended up going in, but I just felt like posting this chapter draft.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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